COMSUBIN Coppia
by Edward Suoh
Summary: Created based on a prompt by amobigbang on Vingle, got really really long, decided to publish it. Story of how I met, fell in love with and married the love of my life; Tomoko Kuroki. Also I'm a mangaka. Just read it.


**COMSUBIN Coppia**

 **By Edward Suoh**

 **Author's Notes;**

 **Me: This story was written because of a prompt by amobigbang over on Vingle, and because Tomoko has been Bae ever since I saw the series I decided to write this. First off... disclaimers; Tomoko is bae, she is my waifu... whatever you want to call it... she's mine. Follow this one simple rule and we will get along fine. I kind of thought of making this a Tomoko X Reader, but too many of the plots elements relied on things that were exclusive to me. So I guess you can either read for fun, pretend you're someone else... or just get lucky and be like my clone. Which if you are, PM me and we'll plan world domination and stuff... probably mostly just how to bio-engineer cat girls, but yeah... world domination and stuff. This is by far my lonest chapter/one-shot ever, beating out Counter-Shock by over 4000 words. It's the first Fic that has been… *Vegeta Voice* OVER NINE THOUSAND! Without further ado; My Writing Prompt; COMSUBIN Coppia.**

The sun slowly began to set on the house as the clock rang; eight times the melody echoed, announcing to all who were listening. The two that were still awake in that house, however, didn't listen.

The two boys sat face to face, each with their respective tools of creation, the older with his paintbrush and sketchpad, and the younger with his notebook and pen. The younger spoke to the older, his voice filled with childlike determination, mixed with mature confidence. "And no matter what… we'll rule this world!" The older boy smiled at his friend's straightforwardness but nodded. "Yeah… let's achieve our dream. Together… we will make a manga that will change the world!"

Opening his sketchpad, the older boy began sketching ideas for the main character and the heroine, while the younger began making a character bio.

"I think the heroine should have some kind of tragic backstory connection to the antagonist. Any ideas Adam?" The artist asked Adam.

"Maybe they used to be lovers…Like Okami-san and Shiro perhaps. Or some kind of unreturned affection like Miu and Kano from Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple or Elie and Lucia from Rave Master." He posited. "Could you draw the antagonist as being wickedly charming Ethan? Like a snake or frog, poisonous on the inside, but with an entrancing exterior." Adam asked his friend, not bothering to look up from his plot outline.

"I was thinking more of a creepy stalker-ish relationship like maybe Oberon from SAO or some kind of slave owner like Nami and Arlong from One Piece." Ethan explained, pulling out reference pictures of both characters. "Something more despicable."

"I could try to work that in… if so, make him a character that looks repulsive to match his character." Adam replied.

They stayed awake for several hours before their bodies demanded sleep, with which they were forced, grudgingly, to comply.

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 **Five Years Later;**

"Come on! You need to get up. We have to leave soon!" Ethan cried down the hall as he adjusted his black Fedora and yellow pacifier. When he didn't hear anything, he ran to the living room and saw Adam laid out on the couch, snoring, his legs spread eagle with one arm draped over his face and the other dangling over the couch. A half-eaten apple lay by a notebook and various pencils that appeared to be scattered haphazardly.

Grabbing and tossing a thesaurus the author had on the table onto said author, proved to be sufficiently effective in waking the sleeping man.

Shooting up in shock Adam gasped and turned towards his best friend. He raised a finger to chew him out but paused. "Why… why are you dressed as Adult Reborn for Katekyo Hitman Reborn?"

Ethan began showing off various parts of the costume by taking poses Adam was sure no real hitman would ever assume. His costume was high quality to be sure, the vest looked exactly like Reborn's, the sun pacifier hung in front of his tie casually just like Reborn, and he even had a green replica gun of Leon. His black Fedora even had a small spot where Leon was perching.

"Pretty nice huh?" Ethan asked. "Now get changed, we need to go."

"Wait is this for this year's Jump Festa? Shoot… is that today?" Adam asked checking his phone.

"Yes, now put on your costume, I knew you were being lazy so I got you one." Ethan teased before leaving to grab various miscellaneous items. Calling from another room, he added, "It was expensive so no complaining!"

"I was not being lazy!" Adam called out in response before grabbing the bag Ethan had left. He began to open it up and heard Ethan call out in a mocking tone.

"Then what would you call rewatching a one-hundred plus episode show without doing any work?"

Adam sighed. "Getting inspiration. Unlike you artists I can't just look at a picture and get inspired, I need to experience the entirety of the show to get that motivation." He tore open the packaging to reveal… a Colonnello outfit.

"Why am I Colonnello?! Couldn't I, at least, have gotten someone cool like Hibari!?" He paused waiting for a response, but heard none and continued. "I'm not even blonde!"

"There's a wig in there, it should fit you, it' should be your size." Ethan answered.

Adam slowly began putting on the costume while tidying up his work area. Ethan entered with Falco, Colonnello's hawk as well as Colonnello's rifle. "However did you afford all this Ethan? We can barely afford this apartment as is." Adam asked as he strapped the rifle to his back.

"We?" Ethan asked questioningly.

Adam sighed. "You… you can barely afford this apartment as is." He rephrased while tossing on his wig.

"A co-worker gave them to me on a loan, so I have to pay her back later, no biggie." Ethan explained, straightening his hat. He paused and looked at Adam. "Have you eaten?"

Adam shook his head and he rushed off to go prepare something. Adam began running after him while trying to hook rain pacifier into place. "Ethan… wait! What do you mean no biggie!? You're our only source of income right now until we can get our manga off the ground, we need to be careful."

Adam heard what sounded like a large plop and then chopping noises before Ethan responded. "It can't be helped, you're not old enough to get any good jobs, the small amount of money you could make would be outweighed by the stress it would put on you. It's up to you to get our manga off the ground, so why don't you focus on that and stop worrying?" Ethan chuckled and the chopping noises resumed.

"If that's the case then why are we wasting time with this con?" Adam asked. "You know I don't like being around so many people. I'd rather just do some work since I finally finished Yu Yu Hakusho, I wouldn't want it to go to waste."

Ethan sighed dramatically. "Introverts."

"You're an introvert too!" Adam yelled but knew his words fell on deaf ears.

The chopping noises stopped, only to be replaced with light sizzling. Ethan appeared from around the corner and grasped Adam's shoulder dramatically. "Listen to me bro! We're going to rule this world someday with our manga aren't we!?" Ethan yelled, pumping his free hand into a fist dramatically.

"Y…yes," Adam replied, taken aback by his sudden burst of conviction, and his terrible impression of Kamina from Gurren Lagann.

"That's how this country is formed today, ever since Japan's politics changed to the way things are now, making the ten highest ranked manga artists the rulers of the country, we knew this wouldn't be easy, but we did it anyways!" Ethan exclaimed vigorously. Then, without any pause, he plowed on. "If we want to make it in this world, a world of our dreams, a world literally run by anime, then we need to adapt to the culture! And what better way to do that than to go and meet the current rulers and all the other manga creators!? Our rivals. And what kind of unimaginable shame would we bring to our passion if we came casually… can you imagine!? No, because it would be unimaginable! We would never be taken seriously as creators!" Ethan exclaimed loudly, and Adam almost swore he saw sparkles in his eyes, like the kind an anime character gets when he's excited. That look scared him. Of course, those were they eyes that led the two to work together, but they could still be downright terrifying… or more like they were an omen of the terrifying things to come.

"Fine… let's go meet our rivals." He paused looking down at the military uniform. "But seriously… was there no Hibari or Gokudera outfits?"

Ethan shook his head. "No there were… I just figured the stubble you gained from…" He air-quoted. "Getting inspired…" He smirked and then continued. "Would look better on Colonnello than any of the other characters."

"Don't get so fired up about something and then give me such a lame answer about something that actually matters!" Adam yelled, but Ethan simply drew his gun and pointed it at him.

"Urusai!" Ethan called, firing his gun at his partner, which surprisingly yielded an actual bullet, which missed Adam by a few inches and bounced off the wall, leaving a considerable sized dent.

Adam screamed in terror and grabbed the gun from Ethan. "What the crap!? That thing has live ammo!?"

Ethan shrugged. "Don't worry. My co-worker says it shouldn't pierce human skin."

"Shouldn't?" Adam asked despondently. "You bet my life on a 'shouldn't'?"

Ethan pushed his fedora up with his gun and in his best Reborn imitation, scowled and said "Urusai!"

"Can you do something other than tell me to shut up please!?" Adam asked. "Reborn has so many better quotes." Adam thought for a moment and then continued. "Very few of which I'd like to hear him say to me… I'm not a masochist."

Before Ethan could answer, a loud sizzling sound was heard from the kitchen and Ethan's head whipped towards it. "Oh no! The food!" He began running towards the sound and Adam followed at his heels.

"Phew… looks fine." Ethan exclaimed and Adam wordlessly grabbed two plates and a pair of chopsticks for each of them.

Ethan moved over to the table where the plates were and placed a pot filled with Sukiyaki in between the two. The two bowed, muttering the customary "Itadakimasu". Adam peered in and looked up at Ethan in disappointment. "Fish? You know I hate fish."

Ethan had already grabbed a piece of a fish and began eating. Between bites he spoke. "Can't help it. Fish is significantly cheaper than pork. You said it yourself, we're strapped for cash. A loan is one thing, but actually cold hard cash is something completely different."

"I need proper food to fuel my brain… you're trampling on my basic human rights." Adam complained, but grabbed a mushroom and ate anyways.

"I'm sure, years from now, when they ask how you got started making manga, you'll speak of this day, and it will forever be remembered as a great tragedy, thousands across the nation will weep for your well-being." Ethan smirked. Adam said nothing and Ethan continued. "You know, Oda-Sensei would only get two hours of sleep a day when he was drawing One Piece and Toriyama-Sensei was even worse. He only got twenty minutes of sleep over a course of six days."

"I know." Adam sighed. "Do you think we'll meet either of them at the con?" The author asked hopefully.

Ethan slammed his hand down on the table sand loudly proclaimed. "They better hope so, because someday… we're going to be remembered as the greatest of all time, and they'll ask for our autographs!"

Adam laughed and swallowed his food. "By the way… about the con… why are you Reborn…? I mean… you're actually blonde. You'd make a much better Colonnello. Besides… you're not the Reborn type."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ethan asked, waving his chopsticks around like a lunatic.

"It means you have the face of that one background character that gets killed first, like Yamakatsu from Deadman Wonderland." Adam explained, biting into a soba noodle.

"Who?" Ethan asked.

"Exactly." Adam nodded smugly before explaining. "He was a friend of Ganta's, dies literally in the first five minutes… forgettable."

"And you think I look… forgettable?" Ethan asked with fake anger in his voice, rising up in mock outrage.

"In our line of work… yeah. Sorry, you're just human after all, you're not an anime character."

Ethan sighed, almost comically and then plopped back down, equally as comically. "Oh well... guess you're right."

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully comparatively.

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The two arrived at Jump Festa and quickly went to look for the panel of current Shonen Jump mangakas. Unfortunately, Ethan found a manga tool he absolutely needed in one of the stores and went in to haggle for it, telling Adam to find and save seats. Grudgingly Adam began trudging through the crowd, but paused and laughed, seeing a cosplay that appeared to be Deadpool as a Super Saiyan. Laughing he tried to get closer to take a picture but felt a small body collide with his.

Looking down, he saw a small teenage girl, positioned as though she had been thrown on the ground, dressed as Lal Mirch from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. She had long black hair, most have which seemed to have been dyed dark blue. Her visor was perched on her head and her left arm was adorned with the gun that Lal had in the future. Her scar looked like it had been painted on recently and captured the color scheme exactly. Her cloak was on the ground behind her, presumably having been knocked off of her when she collided with him.

Adam bent down and offered her a hand. "Are you alright?"

The girl looked up slowly, shock, and a bit of fear in her eyes, but she accepted the hand regardless. She rubbed her hands together awkwardly and muttered. "Th…thank you." She lowered her head in embarrassment and didn't look up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to knock you over." Adam apologized. "Let me make it up to you… I'll buy you something to eat. Whatever you want, my treat."

The girl shook her head. "No… you… you don't have to."

"No, I insist." Adam repeated.

"Well… okay." The girl agreed, trying and failing to hide her flustered face.

The girl led him to a yakitori stand, where she ordered two orders of yakitori with bacon and asparagus. "You should try it, it's really good."

Nodding in affirmation, Adam paid and the two went and sat down at a bench near the stand. The young girl began biting into the section with the most bacon and Adam looked at the girl closely for the first time.

She was quite small, despite looking as old as him. Her eyes were green and there were what appeared to be dark marks under her eyes, presumably from lack of sleep. He was probably sporting some of his own if he was honest. Binges did that to you. She had a petite frame and smooth skin as well.

"I never did get your name." Adam stated. "Would you mind telling me?"

The girl turning to him, shaking a little and stuttering. "You… you want my name?" She asked pointing at herself, as though the idea that someone could possibly be interested in her was an almost foreign concept.

He nodded and the girl began stuttering once again. "I'm… I'm To…Tomoko. Tomoko Kuroki." She whispered, her face flushed red.

"Tomoko… it really does fit." Adam observed, grinning.

"Huh?" Tomoko asked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Tomoko means 'beautiful girl' right?" He laughed a little. "My Japanese isn't perfect, but even I know that. I think it fits."

The girl buried her face in her hands and Adam wondered he might have upset her.

"No… my name has the kanji for wise child… sorry to let you down." Tomoko stammered.

Adam laughed and smirked. "Well let's test that out Kuroki-chan, shall we? You're cosplaying as Lal Mirch from Reborn, so I assume you've seen the show right?"

Tomoko nodded. "Yeah, I saw it."

"It's a nice cosplay of Lal. It looks good on you." Adam complimented.

"Y… you too." Tomoko said.

"Thanks. Alright… which character smoked in the manga, but not in the anime? Bonus points if you can name another character from a different anime and manga of which that's true." Adam challenged.

"Gokudera Hayato." Tomoko answered quickly.

"And the bonus point?" Adam asked.

"I assume you want me to say Yusuke Urameshi." Tomoko taunted.

"Wha… how did you know that!?" Adam asked, flabbergasted, the surprise plastered on his face with clearly no attempt at hiding it. "Are you some kinda psychic?"

"When you paid for the yakitori, your wallet was styled with Yu Yu Hakusho characters, so I guessed." Tomoko admitted.

"I'm impressed. You do live up to your name. Next question; Genkai vs. Lal Mirch? Who would win?" Adam asked, his voice getting more excited than it had been in a long time. "Genkai gets her Spirit Wave Orb."

"Does it honestly matter?" Tomoko countered. "Genkai's techniques can only steal or seal demonic and spirit energy, Lal uses Dying Will Flames, unless she can learn something like the Zero Point Breakthrough in the time they fight, Lal's maneuverability easily gives her the match. And while Genkai has mastered a lot of techniques, they were all spirit related, and even then it took Tsuna days with his Dying Will. Her only chance is her Spirit Shotgun, but Lal's Survival Shot is stronger, faster, and can be used without regard to one's energy reserves."

"Sounds like you've thought this out." Adam approved.

"Well yeah, I don't have a lot of friends so I spend a lot of time thinking by myself." Tomoko explained.

"Sounds like something I used to do." He chuckled a little and scratched his nose. "And still do."

"You still haven't told me your name." Tomoko reminded.

"Well you're certainly livelier than you were earlier." Adam observed, which caused Tomoko to shoot him a glare. "I'm just kidding. It's Adam. Adam Dean."

"So you are a foreigner." Tomoko noted. "Just like I thought."

"Yeah you got me. I'm surprised my terrible Japanese didn't give it away." Adam joked. "I'm here in Japan with my friend Ethan, we're going to make the greatest manga in the world."

"Do you guys think you can do it? You guys must have a lot of talent." Tomoko replied.

"No… but we've got passion, which hopefully makes up for it." Adam admitted.

"So you're two hopeless foreigners who think they can make it big." Tomoko commented accusingly.

"Well see if you still have that attitude when we're ruling this country, then you'll be sorry!" Adam threatened with fake enthusiasm.

"Well see then won't we." Tomoko snickered.

Before Adam could respond, a huge wave of people began moving towards a stage, in an attempt to escape the mass migration, Adam grabbed her hand and the two began running towards the stage. Her hand was warm and it fit completely in his much larger hand. He tried not to think about it because he felt guilty for being so handsy with a girl he just met. They ran into a girl who was either cosplaying an anime character Adam had never seen before or was just a really creative cat girl. She was holding what looked like a black wizard's hat in her hands, and it had two little white puff balls of the left side. She had a thick white braid that was held together by a pink ribbon.

"Here to register for the cosplay contest? I'm Aoi if you want to sign up just talk to me." She asked cheerfully, waving her clipboard at the two.

"What?" Adam asked, noticing Tomoko was acting reserved like she did earlier. Her head was down but she was still holding his hand. 'She must be really shy… I'll handle this.'

"That's what the crowd was for, the events about to start. There's a prize for the winners, it's a lot of fun," She promised.

"Is that why you're cosplaying?" Adam asked.

"No, I'm just Midori Fuse from Black Bullet. I'm not in the contest, I'm not lucky enough, but that shouldn't stop you two." Aoi explained, pulled out a pen. "Tell me what to register you two as and I'll write it down."

'Lucky enough? What does that mean?' Adam turned to Tomoko. "You interested? I wouldn't mind if it's okay with you."

"S...sure, that's fine with me." She muttered. "I was going to go to a bunch of events with a friend... but she was unable to make it. So I don't have any other plans and the train doesn't arrive for another hour."

"Okay, sign us up." Adam nodded.

"Okay, name?" The Midori cosplayer asked.

"I'm Adam..." The author began before he was interrupted.

"No I mean what is the name of your guy's cosplay?" She explained. "Like 'Star-Crossed Lovers', or 'Arcobalenoes of Destiny' or something that relates to the two of you."

"Um... 66 and 56?" Adam suggested weakly.

"Their fandom numbers... lame." Aoi groaned. "Look, your cosplay is good. It needs a good name to match."

"You did catch me off guard." Adam defended.

"How about the COMSUBIN Coppia?" Tomoko suggested.

"Huh?" The two asked in unison.

"Coppia is the Italian word for couple, and the two were members of COMSUBIN, it's how they met." Tomoko shrugged like it was nothing, indicating this was something she hadn't just thought it up on the spot.

"Sure let's do that." Adam affirmed.

Aoi nodded and quickly wrote it down. "Alright, the show will start in a few minutes so follow me backstage." She led the two to the backstage area where they were told to wait. They caught glimpses of other cosplayers in other areas, but the room they were in was all but deserted.

"So COMSUBIN Coppia?" Adam just said the name but phrased it as a question.

"What are you asking?" Tomoko teased.

"How'd you come up with that? It was way better than my suggestion." Adam admitted.

"Anything is better than 66 and 56. Aren't you supposed to be a great author or something, Mr. Mangaka?" She mocked. He rolled his eyes and she went on. "It's just an idea I threw around, nothing more than a headcanon."

"I'm listening." Adam coaxed. "I know a thing or two about headcanons."

"Well, I always figured that all of CEDEF try to get Lal and Colonnello together behind their backs and call them the COMSUBIN Coppia." Tomoko answered indifferently.

Adam chuckled. "Iemitsu setting up Lal and Colonnello. I can see that."

At that point, Aoi came back and began shuffling the two onto the stage as soon as COMSUBIN Coppia was called.

The two walked out on the stage and where two cosplayers of Maka and Soul stood alongside Juvia and Gray. Apparently the others had also entered as pairs… perhaps there would be two different judgings.

"And please welcome our final couple; Magician's Blue!" Aoi called and two cosplayers came out dressed as Kaito Kid and Aoko Nakamori. Kid was wearing his usual white magician's outfit and Aoko was wearing her usual school uniform. The two took very fantastical poses and the audience laughed.

Normally Adam would have spent time admiring the reference, but hearing the word couple stopped him from doing so. He thought back to Aoi's words. "I'm not lucky enough." She was referring to having a boyfriend to do this with. He looked down at Tomoko who was partially hiding behind him and even from here he could feel her heart beating.

He leaned down and whispered to the quivering girl "We can withdraw if you want… I didn't mean to get you into something like this."

'Poor girl. She must hate me, first I bump into her, and know she's going to be embarrassed in front of hundreds with someone she doesn't even know.' Adam thought despondently.

The girl stopped shivering and for a second he thought she was going to cry, but then she looked at him with a face that reminded him of Ethan's when he was fired up about something. "No… If I win this contest… then I'll become popular… so we need to win!"

Adam was a bit taken but nodded in understanding. Tomoko stepped forward and stood by his side, no longer trembling or hiding her face.

Aoi approached Aoko and Kaito and started to ask them a question. "So for those that didn't get the reference… would you please explain your name; Magician's Blue."

Chuckling arrogantly, Kid took the microphone and answered. "I am a magician aren't I?" He bowed and Aoko took the microphone with a very convincing look of annoyance.

"Don't forget me Bakaito!" She complained.

"Urusai Ahoko!" Kaito retorted.

"Kaito-Baka!" Aoko yelled.

"Ugly." Kaito taunted, pulling his lower eyelid down and sticking his tongue out in a mocking gesture.

Aoko swung a mop that she produced from… somewhere… Adam couldn't tell, and swung it at Kaito who went flying comically and landed, dazed. The crowd laughed and Adam could understand why. Not only did they mimic their voices and clothing, but their mannerisms were flawlessly duplicated as well. They were very skilled.

Aoko coughed and resumed as though nothing had happened. "Aoko means Blue Child… so together we are… Magician's Blue!" Kaito, who had stood up during her explanation began making poses, reminiscent of those shown in Jojo's Bizarre Adventures. "And we have a Jojo reference to boot!" Aoko bragged and Kaito grabbed the microphone.

"I'm an entertainer… so audience, tell me! Are you entertained?" He asked and held the microphone out to the audience. They roared in approval and a few even rose to their feet.

Kaito and Aoko bowed and when asked for a couple's pose, Kaito lowered his hat, hiding his face from Aoko, who was leaned in, trying to see his face. Kaito put his fingers on her lips, shushing her and with his other hand, a pigeon materialized.

'They're really good… I'll have to talk to them afterward. Ethan was right, they are dedicated.' Adam noted.

The crowd rose in applause and Adam suddenly realized they'd have to follow that up… somehow.

"What do we do?" Tomoko whispered, apparently thinking the same thing.

"Do you have a pacifier?" Adam asked.

She nodded and pulled it out and pressing a button the on the bottom side if it, it began glowing. Adam examined his pacifier and found the same button.

"Okay… just answer the questions and say things Lal would say." Adam whispered.

Aoi moved over to the two and began questioning them. "So, for those that aren't fluent in Italian, would you mind explaining COMSUBIN Coppia?" She handed the mic to Tomoko who took it and did her best to impersonate Lal… but her voice was airier than Lal's sharper voice, but she made up for it with attitude.

"Don't you know anything?" She sighed and folded her arms in front of her body. "Listen up because I'm only going to say this once."

Acting on the spur of the moment entered in the conversation. "Come on Lal, smile a little more. I told that you look cuter that way didn't I?" He asked, and when Tomoko shot him a look of confusion, he winked.

"Urusai Colonnello, you're nothing but a shameless student that hits on his instructor." She rebutted and fired her shotgun at him. Like Ethan's, her gun was loaded with live ammo, that whizzed past him and hit the wall behind the curtain.

Adam shrieked, forgetting he was supposed to be Colonnello and dropped to the ground, groveling and begging for forgiveness. Apparently the audience assumed that that was part of their plan and found it highly amusing.

Tomoko held out a hand and looked away, embarrassed. "Fine, I'll forgive you, but stop that from now on." Adam pulled himself up with Tomoko's help and she whispered a brief apology, saying she had forgotten it was actually loaded.

She coughed in annoyance and began explaining. "COMSUBIN is the organization that I lead a task force in, and Colonnello was my, pathetic, whiny, dame-student." She paused and glared at Adam who waved goofily. She looked away quickly and humphed before continuing. Coppia is the Italian word for couple… Basil-kun and Iemitsu-taichou tried to set me up with… that one." She spat shooting another glance at Adam. "They called us the COMSUBIN Coppia…" She finished, her indifference trying to mask her faked embarrassment.

Aoi came up to the two and asked for a couple's pose Adam wrapped his arm around Tomoko's shoulder and pulled her to his chest, attempting to mimic the pose the two were shown in whilst still in COMSUBIN. She stiffened at first and then looked away with an embarrassed face that Adam couldn't tell if it was her acting or her actual embarrassment. Despite only trying to help her win this, Adam couldn't help but be very conscious of the fact that this was the closest he had ever gotten to a girl his age… pretty much ever. The closeness was giving him a warm tingling feeling that made him feel a bit guilty.

As soon as Aoi moved on to Gray and Juvia, Adam leaned down and apologized "Sorry about that."

But she shook her head and whispered back "No… it's okay" which surprised him.

The contest went on a little longer, with Juvia and Gray doing a Unison Raid, and Maka delivering a Maka Chop to Soul. The other two passed quickly and weren't nearly as impressive as Kaito and Aoko.

The judges gave out the obvious conclusion of Aoko and Kaito getting first place, with Tomoko and Adam getting 5000 yen each as compensation for appearing. No second place prize was given, so where they landed exactly they didn't know.

As Tomoko and Adam left Tomoko looked a little depressed, but before Adam could comfort her she gripped her hand tightly and looked at him with the same intensity that she had earlier. "Next time we'll win! We did so well, without being prepared. Next time… for sure."

Adam was a bit taken back but smiled. "I'd like that… you did a great impersonation."

She smiled, the first real smile he had seen her give since they met, not shy or bashful… but a genuine smile. "Thanks… you too. If your writing is as good as your acting you might just make a decent manga."

He smirked. "So are you an actor or just a really dedicated cosplayer?"

"No… I've just spend so much time pretending to be okay that my acting skills eventually got to this point." She didn't look him in the eyes and when she didn't hear anything she resumed her explanation. "I don't want your pity if that's what you're thinking…"

"No." He interrupted. "I'm just surprised I'm not the only one like that."

Tomoko looked up expecting to see pity or faked comradery, but only found sincerity and relatability. "And let me guess… you always help other people with the same problem, giving them the exact words you always wanted to hear. Probably anonymously." Adam inferred.

Tomoko shook her head. "No… I'm not brave enough… even anonymously." She chuckled. "I guess that's why I'm not popular."

"I think you're really cool if it means anything. But the shy girl I bumped into and the brilliant otaku are almost two different people." Adam noted. "I do that. I'm not trying to brag but I often give out anti-suicidal counseling online… and I always say what it is I want to hear. I don't know if I've had any impact on those I've helped… but I like to think so."

"You're really kind." Tomoko noted a mix of surprise, a look that seemed to indicate surprise at a discovery, and sincere admiration.

Adam blushed, unused to such authentic praise. "You think so? T…thanks."

The girl chuckled. "Now you sound like me."

This caused Adam to blush even more, which only made Tomoko laugh harder. Before long both of them were laughing. When their aching stomachs and breath-deprived lungs demanded they stop Adam turned to Tomoko. "So… anything else you want to do?"

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"So that was how I got there." Adam explained. "After you abandoned me, one thing just lead to another."

"So you made a friend. I suppose that makes up for you leaving me alone and not meeting any of our rivals. Is she cute?" Ethan teased him.

"That's not important! I have a favor." Adam said, dismissing the question with a wave of the hand.

"Not important… I beg to differ! As your best friend, I need to know these things! It is my privilege, nay, my right!" Ethan exclaimed, clambering up onto the table.

Adam grabbed Ethan and pulled him back to his seat and then began running my hand through my hair in frustration. "Will you be serious for one second and listen to me!?" The author pleaded.

"Not until you tell me if you think she's cute." Ethan stated calmly for someone who had just been standing on the table.

Adam moaned and lowered my head to the table in exhaustion. "Sometimes I wonder which of us is really the adult."

"That'd be me since I'm not the one acting like a sissy when it comes to girls. They don't actually have cooties you know. It was a lie from the beginning." Ethan taunted.

"Why did you change the question from 'Is she cute' to 'do you think she's cute'?" He asked, fearing the answer.

Much to his dismay, the blonde smirked. "Because cute is a subjective description and you could wuss you're way out of it… but to you… that requires a definitive answer." He explained his all-knowing grin, telling me I had already lost.

He wanted him to take the bait… "Well, I needed his cooperation so I had no choice." He took a deep breath and spoke. "Yes… she's cute, happy!? Now will you help me?!"

Ethan smiled. "What is it you need exactly?"

"I need friends." Adam explained, exacerbated.

Ethan thought for a moment, but the request still didn't make much sense. "What?"

Adam sighed. "I tried to invite her over… so I could see her again of course, but knowing how shy she was, I told her it was an anime party with other people, so she wouldn't feel awkward. But I don't have any friends! So I need to borrow some of yours!"

Ethan sighed and buried his face into his palm. "There are so many things wrong with this. First off; I barely got time off to go to this event, I don't have any more off-time for a while, and you know how strict work times are here, the few friends I have probably don't have any spare time, and even if they did, they'd spend it with their families. Second; from what you've told me, this Tomoko girl isn't the kind of person who is comfortable with people she doesn't know. She's chosen to trust you."

Adam looked down quietly. "She did seem kinda… hesitant…I'm an idiot aren't I?" Ethan nodded in confirmation.

"I'll give her a call, see if it's not too late to change the plan." Adam said, reaching into his pocket for his phone.

"Oh and one more thing, don't try and make these kinds of things up to make her more comfortable. You will always fail, and she'll be mad because you lied." Ethan suggested.

Adam nodded and pulled up Tomoko's number on his contact listen and waited with baited breath for her answer.

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"No I'm serious Yuu-chan after we bumped into each other, he insisted on buying me something to eat to make up for it. Then we got accidentally dragged into a couple's cosplay event." Tomoko explained, tossing and turning on her bed, one hand pressing the phone against her ear, and the other running a hand through her long hair.

She could hear Yuu-chan chuckling from the other end. "So you made a friend, that's great Mokocchi. Sorry, I couldn't make it, I was stuck at home with the flu. But I'm glad you still enjoyed yourself."

'Oh, Yuu-chan, so pure, so selfless.' Tomoko thought, partially admiring her friend, and partially jealous. "Yeah… we didn't win, but we will next time for sure!" She declared boldly, pumping her fist in the air.

'Then everyone will acknowledge me… and I'll be super popular… with his help.' Tomoko added in her head.

"There's going to be a next time?" Yuu-chan asked. "Tell me when, I'd like to meet your new boyfriend."

Tomoko's face went bright red and she began stuttering whilst yelling. "B…Bo…boyfriend!? Have you gone crazy Yuu-chan!? I just barely met him! This isn't some crappy shoujo!" Tomoko's brother began yelling for her to shut the hell up, and Yuu-chan just giggled again.

"Well you're introduction to each other sounded like one." The blonde girl pointed out. "But tell me about him."

"Well, he's a foreigner…" Tomoko began but was cut off her by her friend.

"Oh, so you snagged yourself a foreigner did you? Good job Mokocchi." Yuu-chan teased, and Tomoko could easily imagine Yuu-chan giving her a thumbs up on the other end of the line.

"Jeez, you're starting to sound like a perverted old man Yuu-chan."

"I can't help it, someone has finally seen just how wonderful of a girl you are Mokocchi." She taunted. "Though I'm honestly kinda surprised it took this long."

Tomoko sighed, glad her best friend couldn't see her flushed face through the phone. "I keep telling you it's not like that. Now are you going to shut up and let me tell you about him, or do I need to hang up?"

Yuu-chan giggled lightly and then apologized, slight chuckles breaking into her words. "No… go on." Tomoko chose to ignore the laughing and continue with her description.

"He's a little taller than Tomoki, with brown hair and blue eyes. He has glasses and is just as big of an anime fan as I am." Tomoko described. "I think you'd like him Yuu-chan."

"Not as much as you apparently do." Yuu-chan snickered.

Tomoko didn't get a chance to counter, as her home phone began ringing. She didn't recognize the number. "Sorry, Yuu-chan I've got to take this." She picked up the phone and spoke into it. "Hello Kuroki residence, this is Tomoko."

"Beautiful girl… It's Adam." Adam greeted.

"Uh… um… hi… what's up?" Tomoko asked lamely. 'Shoot, he caught me off guard.'

"Well… um… you see… I kinda lied about the party thing." Adam explained lamely.

"What?" She deadpanned.

"Well I lied about it because I wanted to see you again, but I didn't want to be so bold to ask you to come alone because that would be creepy, so I lied about the party so you wouldn't feel so awkward… but then I couldn't form an actual party so I was wondering if you maybe just wanted to hang out with me?" Adam explained in one continuous stream, not stopping for air until he finished.

"So you lied to me?" Tomoko asked.

"Yes." Adam sighed. "I'm really sorry… I just didn't want you to feel pressured to do something alone. If you want to bring a friend along that would be fine with me."

"One second." Tomoko said and picked up her cell phone. "Yuu-chan… are you free this Friday?"

"What for?" She asked.

"You get to meet the foreigner." She smiled sadistically. 'This is perfect, two really popular people that like me… with both of them by my side, there is no way I won't become crazy popular!' She began fantasying about her new life at school, hordes of the 'popular kids' would follow her around hoping just to be noticed by her. She chuckled and grabbed the home phone. "This Friday, meet me at the park on 17th street. Twelve-Thirty, don't be late."

"I won't I promise… and Tomoko. Thanks for understanding. I look forward to it."

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"There... I got that cleared up." Adam sighed a plopped down on the couch next to Ethan who was drawing a rough sketch of their characters.

"An introvert like you should have understood that she wouldn't want to be around people... so why did you do it?" Ethan asked, coloring in the hair.

"I don't think she's an introvert." Adam admitted.

Ethan scoffed. "You sure described her like she was one."

"It's more like she wants to be with people but she doesn't know how." He paused thinking about how to phrase it. She was like no one he had ever met, and she fascinated him. "She's like an extrovert trapped in an introvert's body."

Ethan shrugged. "Whatever... I guess I'll just have to wait to see what it is you see in her."

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Friday came on Adam like a flash and before he knew it, he was searching for Tomoko. He quickly spotted her, standing in an oversized gray hoodie and jeans. Even when she wasn't in cosplay, she still had an undeniable cuteness to her that Adam just couldn't quite figure out. Next to her was a taller and bustier blonde hair girl, which he assumed was the Yuu-chan he was told would be joining them. Yuu-chan was wearing a white blouse and a green skirt, with knee high socks.

He waved his hand to signal to them and then jogged over to where they were.

Once he reached them, Tomoko motioned towards her friend. "Adam, this is Yuu-chan." Adam nodded and extended his hand. She reached out and shook his hand. "Yuu-chan, this is Adam." Tomoko finished.

"It's nice to meet the man Mokocchi has told me so much about." She smirked and began looking him over, like a chef examining his ingredients before chopping them up. Adam stood stiffly, trying awkwardly to pass this 'inspection'.

"Don't say things people will misinterpret Yuu-chan!" Tomoko ordered, which only caused the blonde to giggle and Adam to feel more embarrassed.

"Shall we head out?" Adam asked, and the girls nodded.

"There's a new restaurant I wanted to try out." Tomoko said and began walking in what Adam assumed was the direction of the restaurant. She turned back to him and gave him a devious smile. "I hope you brought money."

Adam's wallet started crying, and a bit of the author's soul died.

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Nearly two hours later, and six restaurants later, Adam had spent almost four times the amount of money allowed to spend on himself. Ethan was going to take away his allowance for months. Hopefully, the manga they sent into Akamaru Jump would earn them enough to still pay rent this month. The landlady apparently got along swimmingly with Ethan he was able to get a steal on the rent in exchange for promises of a big payoff once their manga got off the ground. Hopefully, they would, at least, get noticed via Akamaru.

"So Adam-kun, Mokocchi tells me you are an aspiring mangaka, how is that working out so far?" Yuu asked, taking a bit from her ice cream.

Adam sighed and put down his shake. Tomoko put down her spoon and turned to him. "That's right... you never told me how long you've been here... you're Japanese is good, so you must have been here a while." She inferred.

Adam rubbed his chin and tried to think. "Let's see... I think it's officially been a full month since we arrived. And as for my Japanese... I've always been a huge otaku, ever since I grew up in America, and I knew I wanted to make a manga someday, so I poured over every Japanese textbook I could find."

"Have you made any progress?" Tomoko asked.

"Well, we sent our first issue into Akamaru, and it should air in a couple weeks, so we have a little bit of spending money, plus more if we win any awards, like best in issue or staff-favorite, we can get a little boost in cash." Adam explained.

"What kind of manga is it? Shounen, slice of life, comedy, sports, horror..." She paused and winked slyly at Tomoko. "Or maybe it's a romance."

Adam started scratching his head awkwardly. "Um... about that..."

"You mean it's actually a romance!?" Tomoko asked in surprise.

"You could probably even classify it as shojo." Adam muttered sheepishly. "It's called Wishmaker."

Yuu and Tomoko both bust out laughing at the flushed mangaka, who eventually joined in and laughed.

When they finally stopped, Yuu's phone vibrated. "Sorry... I got check this." She frowned as she scanned the screen. "Sorry you guys, I gotta go... you two go, have fun."

"Wait... Yuu-chan!" Tomoko cried, running after he friend who had already started to head out. Adam stayed inside and gave the little cash he had left to the cashier.

"You're right, I do like him. Enjoy the rest of your time." Yuu-chan winked, rushing off, flagging down a taxi.

Adam came out of the restaurant just in time to see Yuu get into the taxi.

Tomoko turned to Adam and shrugged. "Guess she had to go." Tomoko whipped out her phone and within seconds found what she was looking for. "I've got tickets that are good for no questions asked, get into any movie for free. Do you wanna go see something?"

"Anything good playing?" Adam asked, suddenly aware that he was going to be alone with Tomoko, which he had just been trying to avoid. But she seemed to be okay with it so, what was the worst that could happen?

"The new Naruto movie... I assume you've already seen it, but I haven't yet." Tomoko finished.

"Sounds great." Adam agreed, trying not to think about all of the stereotypical romantic moments that inevitably occur whenever two people go the movies together, including; hands touching when they reached for popcorn, the girl clinging to the guy when the scenes got scary, the atmosphere of random couples making out a few isles behind.

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Despite all his preconceived notions about movie dates, none of them actual came true. Tomoko's coupon get them both their own popcorn, there wasn't anything that apparently could scare Tomoko and the entire room was basically empty except for them. Adam was somehow both disappointed and relieved at the same time.

"I had fun, we should do this again." Tomoko had told him before she went home. He offered to walk her home, but she insisted it was far enough to justify taking a cab.

It didn't make sense. First she was ridiculously shy, and now she was acting totally normal. It really was like two different people. He tried to think up an answer, but no matter how hard he thought, he just kept coming up blank.

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Adam and Tomoko went on several other hang outs that Yuu-chan and Ethan kept insisting was a date. Adam knew that he liked Tomoko, but still wasn't quite sure what it all meant, and what exactly he should do about it.

On one of their outings, right after Akamaru awarded Adam and Ethan with both; best in issue and staff-favorite, which gave their wallets a nice little pick me up and got them on the map with Shueisha. It was on this day that Adam finally asked.

"Tomoko... why is it that you were so shy when we met and whenever you talk to other people?" He had seen that phase several times. Once when they went to the mall and he had to use the restroom, he came back outside to find her curled up outside the bathroom. She clung to him the rest of the way. She seemed to be fine around Yuu-chan and him, but no one else. He didn't want to offend her, but she never offered any explanation.

Tomoko was silent for a long time and at first, Adam thought he had made a mistake, but then she spoke. "A few years ago, I was diagnosed with severe social anxiety." Her voice wavered a little but she kept talking. "I wanted to be popular and have friends and have..." She paused for a moment. "Have a boyfriend, but I was too afraid. Afraid of everything. I kept trying, but no matter what I tried it always ended terribly."

"I'm sorry I brought it up..."

"Even my one friend Yuu-chan, she grew up and got a boyfriend, but I'm still afraid of people. You and Yuu-chan I can deal with because you two kinda forced yourself on me... but I don't know how to approach people." She slammed her hands down on the table and for the first time, Adam noticed the tears she was trying to hold back. "Understand now!?" She cried. "Is it as bad as you imagined."

Adam answered by pulling the girl into a hug. "Tomoko, don't think any of this is your fault. I'm sorry you had to deal with this for so long on your own. But I promise I'll always stay by your side. Sound good." She pulled back and looked at him like she was looking for some trick or some indication he was lying. Apparently seeing none, she smiled, nodded and threw her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. She cried for a few minutes and Adam could feel his heart breaking for the girl that he'd come to know by accident and now couldn't imagine living without.

Eventually, he brought Tomoko back to his apartment to give her some downtime away from the busy city and the two agreed on watching the Dragon Ball Z reruns that were being shown in an attempt to hype the upcoming Dragon Ball Super series. They turned on the TV and saw the episode was the one where Goku attempts to form the Spirit Bomb whilst Vegeta holds of Majin Buu.

"So what is it about Vegeta that all the girls find so attractive?" Adam inquired.

"I was never personally attracted to him, but I understand why others were." Tomoko admitted.

"Well don't keep me in suspense." Adam joked. "It's the hair isn't it?"

"No… it's…" She pursed her lips, in the way she did when trying to find the right words that Adam found so adorable. She would often just speak whatever she was thinking; she was bold that way. But she could also be kind and gentle. It was like she was two different people at times. The Ying and the Yang. "It's his drive." She finally said. She nodded, the words sounding right. "He wants to get stronger, he wants to succeed, and he's willing to work to achieve it. No matter how much he got beaten down, he got back up. Girls find that attractive. The harder things got, the harder he tried. It was admirable, it made him cool. He was like that part of us that keeps pushing, but while most of us give up, he is the nothing but that drive. Sure his six pack and sexy body didn't hurt either."

"And somehow trying to become the ruler of the world through manga hasn't gotten me a girlfriend? Is it that not attractive?" Adam fake-whined. "I even learned Japanese entirely by myself." Adam added.

Tomoko turned back to the TV where Vegeta was rising from the rubble he had been kicked into, much to the astonishment of Buu. "No… I think it's pretty attractive." Tomoko whispered.

"Tomoko…"

"I'm just saying that it's good that you have a drive and a passion and maybe it'll turn out to something I mean you never know right?!" Tomoko blurted out, far too fast for it to be completely true, but Adam didn't call her on it.

"You know, if I went Super Saiyan I'd get every girl ever… but that'd be boring." Adam claimed. He leaned over, resting his head on her shoulder and cuddling closer to her, so their arms were touching and smiled. "I like this much better."

Tomoko said nothing but leaned in as well.

The TV continued to air the rerun, but the two fell asleep long before Goku was even able to complete the Spirt Bomb, let alone hit Buu with it.

The two were awoken by what they at first assumed was an either a dying hippo or a warning for an air strike. Turns out it was a drunk Ethan, stumbling in the door.

"Ethan. You're home early." Adam called, clambering over the couch to try and hide that fact that he and Tomoko fell asleep whilst cuddling on the couch. He knew Ethan… and just avoiding potential problems before they start is usually the best method.

"Boss took us all drinking since we finished the project!" Ethan proclaimed wildly, swaying back and forth.

"Oh shoot, he can't handle his alcohol." Adam explained to Tomoko who was yawning beside him.

"Is that To-Ma-Ku?" Ethan slurred, pointing at Tomoko.

"Yes, that's Tomoko… maybe you should sit down." Adam led Ethan down to the couch and forced him to down some tea. After a few minutes, Ethan was able to talk without slurring his words. Once this happened to Tomoko who was standing behind the couch awkwardly.

"Tomoko… come here please." He said nodding towards the chair beside the couch.

Tomoko obliged but gave Adam a quizzical look. Adam shrugged in response.

"I have to test you to determine whether or not you are worthy of dating my best friend and soon to be co-creator and co-ruler of this great nation." Ethan explained, his eyes staring intently into Tomoko's. Normally she would have pointed out that the two of them weren't dating, but his gaze was so intense she couldn't do anything other than nod.

"Simon!" Ethan cried, dramatically raising his finger to the sky. "Don't believe in yourself…" He paused, looked back down to Tomoko and nodded.

Tomoko was a bit taken back and shot Adam a look that said 'You have weird friends' to which Adam simply nodded in agreement. She looked back into Ethan's eyes and let her otaku instincts take over. "Believe in me! Believe in the Kamina who believes in you!" She exclaimed with as much Kamina gusto as she could manage when being taken by surprise.

Ethan nodded and then began biting his nails. "Kira… I will hunt you down wherever you are hiding and I will eliminate you… I am…"

"Justice!" Tomoko smirked. "Is that the hardest one you've got?"

Ethan nodded and placed his hands on Tomoko's shoulders. "I accept you. Make my man happy." Tomoko nodded slightly, not quite sure of how to respond. The solemn mood was broken by his next sentence, though. "So do you have any cute friends how might be willing to date me? They'd have to be crazy to turn this down." Ethan said, flexing his arms, which only managed to make him fall forward onto the couch.

Tomoko stared at him. "And just as I was beginning to respect you too." She turned without another word and walked straight out the door. Adam followed wordlessly and shrugged at Ethan's flabbergasted expression.

When Adam closed the door, Ethan tipped over on the couch and began snoring.

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"Is he always like that or just when he's drunk?" Tomoko asked accusingly.

"I could defend him, but no… he's kinda always that way… just a little less." Adam laughed. 'Why do I always laugh when I'm with her? It's odd… even Ethan doesn't make me laugh this much… so she's definitely more than a friend…' Adam's thoughts were starting to trail off when Tomoko brought him back to reality.

"You don't have to walk me all the way home, I can take care of myself. It's only 9:30." She reasoned, but still stuck close to him under his umbrella.

"True, but it's probably a good idea for me to meet your family. Besides, I could use the fresh air." Adam casually responded, trying not to sound or look desperate for more time with her.

"The fresh rain-soaked air?" Tomoko asked sarcastically.

"Yes." Adam nodded in affirmation.

The two continued to walk in silence, past the park where they met up for their first "outing" which both Ethan, and apparently her friend Yuu-chan were convinced was a date. Finally, Tomoko turned to Adam. "So… do you think they should have continued Dragon Ball the way they did? Or are they just using it as a cash cow?"

Adam thought for a moment. "Dragon Ball Z is basically the staple anime. It's stood the test of time, remaining ridiculously popular years after the atrocity named GT and a several decade long absence. They still come out with great games, even if their hit detection sucks." Adam paused and looked solemnly. "Everything dies… everything must end eventually. Luffy will eventually find the One Piece. Conan will eventually turn back to Shinichi and marry Ran. We want these things to happen, but we don't want the shows to end… so we're split… we can't decide. But Dragon Ball Z never had that sort of ending. Goku never had a real goal… he just did what he had to do… despite this, we are still cheering for him, some twenty years later. If I do make a manga, I don't want it to drag on forever… but I do want it to be long enough so that no one is upset when it ends because it was too short. I want the ending to be bittersweet, like a heartfelt goodbye between friends."

"I was looking for a yes or no, not your whole thesis on how to end a manga." She teased, elbowing him in the rib.

"I for one, am glad to see it come back…" He looked up longingly. "In some ways, it feels like they never left. But I know that they'll leave again… I don't know what I'll do then." He admitted, his eyes getting misty just from the prospect.

"Baka." Tomoko called grabbing his hand. Adam turned to look at her and she rolled her eyes. "Even if they leave… I'll still be here." Adam stared for a moment before she pulled her hand away and blushed.

'She… she's so cute.' Adam realized. 'If I'm just looking at her analytically, there's nothing really that stands out as cute… but when I look at her as me… she's just so adorable… why is that?' He paused when a thought entered his head and refused to budge from his mind. 'It can't be... can it? Am I in love with Tomoko Kuroki? No that's absurd... this is nothing but a childish crush, I'll grow out of it.' He assured himself and continued to walk with her, all the while noticing all the small details about her that endeared her to him. Her gentle smile, the way she moved, the way she huddled next to him, the way she looked at him... the way she smiled... just for him.

The two continued in silence until they reached the Kuroki household. Knocking on the door, Tomoko didn't wait for an answer and opened the door. "I'm home!" She called out slipping off her shoes and urged Adam to do the same. "Hey guys, there's someone you need to see."

Adam heard loud shuffling noises and then the rapid descending of stairs. "Sis if this is another one of your dumb things I don't have time for it..." Coming into view was who could only be assumed to be Tomoko's brother. One because they had the same dark eye lines, and two because he called her sis. "Oh." Was his simple response. He was wearing a plain gray T-shirt with the number 27 on it and blue jeans. He was several inches shorter than he was, but still quite taller than Tomoko.

Adam stood awkwardly as another one of Tomoko's friends, or in this case, family members gave him the analytical look-over. "So you didn't make him up." He eventually said.

Tomoko snorted. "Shut up Tomoki." She then turned back to Adam. "I'm going to change, just wait here for a minute. She quickly ran upstairs leaving the brother alone with the boyfriend... kind of.

"So you have a crush on my sister?" Tomoki asked, plopping down on the couch.

"What?!" Adam asked, nearly falling out of his chair. He tried to regain his composure. "What... what makes you say that?"

"Well, you've spent almost three months with my sister and seem to enjoy her company. So either you like her or you're a masochist." He chuckled. "Cause you sure don't like her for he looks."

Adam was about to say something but decided against it. But unfortunately for him, Tomoki noticed. "No way, no way." He said in shock, the disbelief uncontained on his faces. "You... you think my sister is hot!?"

Adam bit his lip, hoping Tomoko wouldn't come around the corner right as he spoke. "Yes... yes as a matter of fact I find your sister very physically attractive." Adam answered sheepishly, but honestly.

Tomoki's eyes widened. "Un-freaking-believable."

At that moment, Tomoko came downstairs in her school uniform. "Sorry, I'll go make some tea."

Tomoki got up from the couch and moved over to his sister. "Marry him. There's no way this good of a chance will ever come up again. Ever!"

Tomoko's face flushed red like a tomato and she almost robotically went back to making the tea.

Right as Adam was about to get up and help, two people, whom Adam assumed were Tomoko's mother and father came in. Her mother wore a purple shirt and white pants whereas her father was a bit more professional, sporting a suit, tie, and purple undershirt. His face was downcast and depressed, and he carried the aura of someone who had been worked into the ground. That might have been where Tomoko got her depressing aura from. The two sat at the couch where Tomoki had been previously and faced Adam.

"So..." The father said finally. "I understand you're a close friend of Tomoko's."

Adam gulped and nodded. "Yes, it's been an honor to know your daughter. You've raised her very well."

Tomoko's mother sighed. "We certainly tried. I'm just surprised she managed to snag such a well-mannered young man like yourself."

Adam rubbed his hair in embarrassment. "Thank you. But it was my fault we met." He paused realizing how that sounded. "No, wait that came out wrong!"

"Don't worry, its fine, Tomoko's told us... several times." Her mother explained.

Her father rose up and Adam followed suit. He grasped Adam's shoulders and looked, with his worn eyes, into Adam's eyes. "Listen son... Tomoko might be strong, but she is also weak. She needs those that can protect her, and comfort her. You might not always know which one you need to do at the time. But if you're serious about my daughter... then I ask you to always take care of her. Keep her happy, that's all I can ask. Can you do that?"

Adam nodded. "I've been trying to do that from the start, and I'm not stopping now." The older man smiled.

"Then why don't you stay for dinner."

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Eventually, Tomoko decided she wanted to see Adam's future works and not just the short ideas that he threw around for Akamaru. So she kinda just showed up... unannounced. Adam was grateful for the visit and invited her in anyways though.

"I want to see the manga you guys have planned. You said you write Shojo right? I can give you an expert advice." She claimed.

"Expert advice?" Adam asked teasingly.

She shot him a look of annoyance and rolled her eyes. "Okay, listen up. Number One; Super Otaku right here. Number Two; I'm a girl nimrod!"

Adam shrugged. "Hard to argue with that logic." He led her back to the storage room where several manuscripts of the manga were kept.

He pointed at the boxes. "Take a look."

Tomoko began scrambling through the box like a child at Christmas. Then she stopped.

"Edward Suoh? You two are Edward Suoh! Like the Fanfiction Author!?" Tomoko asked giddily.

"Well more like just I was. When Ethan came on I swore off Fanfics and we became the new and improved Edward Suoh that creates manga." Adam explained. His brow furrowed and he looked back at the girl. "Wait… how do you know about my Fanfiction career?"

"I used to read your stuff all the time. I was your biggest fan! I never thought I'd meet you in real life. I was always wondering why you stopped." Tomoko smiled. "Now I'm kind of glad you did, otherwise you would have never come here and I would never have met you."

Adam laughed. "Small world huh?" He grabbed one of the manuscripts and sat down on the couch. Tomoko flopped down, half next to him, half on top of him. Neither minded.

Adam opened up the document and began reading. "Suicidal Sweethearts, or as I will be offering to it until its official debut; Blue Moon, is the story of childhood friends Mikagi Kyuuseishu and Namika Mikoto. The two were inseparable but had to keep their friendship a secret. One fateful day, though, Namika gets in a car crash and loses her memories of him. Years later she becomes suicidal and depressed and Mikagi tries to save her and stop her from killing herself. He makes it very clear that he would have to die first. So she sets out to try to kill him, only to fall in love with him." Adam explained closing the booklet. "The rest is a secret."

Tomoko turned and looked Adam straight in the eyes. "This better end up in Weekly Shonen Jump because I want to know how it ends."

"Deal." He nodded. "And when we get an anime, I want you to be the heroine. If you agree, I know I can push myself to do whatever it takes to succeed.

Tomoko smiled. "Deal."

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After reading the most recent weekly Shonen Jump manga almost a week later, Adam called up Tomoko to discuss it with her, and mostly to cry. The two met at Tomoko's favorite restaurant, WcDonalds and picked a table near the back to avoid unnecessary attention.

"I can't believe Naoshi Komi... trying to make Raku fall in love Chitoge, its pure madness." Adam whined his head pressed up against the table in agony.

"I've shipped them from the beginning. They were in the one-shot, without Marika, Tsugumi or even Kosaki." Tomoko countered.

Adam's head shot up and he turned to his crush with a look of disbelief. "Raku Ichijou loves Kosaki Onodera and that's the way it should be. He has no romantic feelings towards Chitoge!"

"Chitoge loves Raku far more than Onodera ever did and, at least, has the guts to do things with him, even if it is under the pretense of their fake relationship." Tomoko argued, her voice getting louder and louder.

"Rosaki!" Adam called rising to his feet leaning closer towards Tomoko.

"Kisaku!" Tomoko rebutted pushing back her chair dramatically and leaning closer to Adam.

"Rosaki!"

"Kisaku!"

"Rosaki!"

"Kisaku!"

The two kept yelling until their foreheads were touching and their faces were mere millimeters away from each other. The two froze realizing where they had ended up before both instinctively withdrawing their faces. With both of their hearts pounding, they tried to resume their lunch.

Taking a bite of his burger, Adam couldn't help it. "So Kirisaki-chan huh?"

Tomoko nodded. "To be friends with someone and spend all your time with them, and before you know it... they are your entire world... isn't that what love is?" Tomoko asked and Adam looked at Tomoko, her words confirming what he had been thinking for weeks. He loved Tomoko Kuroki. He knew that he couldn't live without her, and his life was boring without her in it. Slowly he leaned forward, closing his eyes slowly, not quite sure what he was doing, but he felt that it was the appropriate thing to do upon discovering he was in love with his female friend. Much to his surprise, just before his eyes closed all the way he saw Tomoko leaning towards him as well. Seeing that caused his legs to feel weak and his heart to go into hyper overdrive mode, to the maximum extreme. The next thing he felt were soft hands on the top of his head and suddenly he was propelled forward, his lips crashing into Tomoko's.

At first, Adam was too surprised to register anything and his eyes shot open, revealing Tomoko who still had her eyes closed. The initial shock quickly wore off and he could feel her lips on his and his entire body went into shock. It was like there were fireworks exploding inside his body and in his lips and everything felt weird yet good and his stomach was wiggling everywhere. It was like being covered by bugs... but in a good way. Like being completely submerged in hundreds of ladybugs of happiness.

When Tomoko finally let go and pulled back Adam was little more than a fidgeting mess. "We did the... and I felt... and you... and... can we do that again?" He asked, positive he sounded like a total idiot. Regardless, Tomoko pulled him in for another kiss.

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Almost four months passed in which Tomoko and Adam were officially dating. While they didn't get to spend as much time with each other as they would have liked, with him trying to balance manga and her struggle of mixing and matching studying and school. Despite this, they still went out every Saturday, practically religiously, and texted each other without fail. Then a few weeks intro Summer Break... it finally happened.

Adam invited Tomoko to the park where they had their first 'date'. Taking her hand, he sat her down on the bench and began his pre-prepared speech.

"Tomoko… Ethan and I have submitted our manga to Shueisha and it's going to be aired in weekly Shonen Jump on a test run. They say it looks promising… and they are also looking over…" He looked around noting the other people present. Tomoko shook her head at his paranoia but urged him to continue. "Blue Moon… so it seems like we are going to be successful. Ethan quit his job… and it's great… but…" He paused.

Tomoko looked down depressed and continued his explanation where he left off. "So you're going to be really busy for a while… huh?" Adam nodded.

"But Tomoko…" He grabbed her hands and looked her in the eyes, trying hard not to blush. "I… I really like you, and I don't want you to leave my side…" He gulped and Tomoko's eyes widened.

"Adam is this…" She asked, gasping.

"So… when our manga gets an anime and you voice the heroine, be it Namika or Kina… after that happens I want you to marry me." Adam finished and Tomoko struck him hard on the head.

"Ow! What was that for? You could have just said no." Adam complained rubbing his head. He looked up and saw… Tomoko absolutely livid for the first time.

"What do you mean what was that for?! You dummy that's the premise of Bakuman!" Tomoko spat, somehow being fierce and calm at the same time, like super densified anger.

"I thought it was romantic." Adam argued.

"Exactly! For them, but we're not them are we!?" Tomoko snapped. "I always dreamed that when I got proposed to it would be special and magical… but you don't even have the balls to ask me yourself."

"Well, legally we aren't old enough to get married yet…" Adam began but Tomoko shot him a fierce glare and he stopped arguing. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. In one motion he grabbed her hand and dropped to his knee. "Tomoko… I've known you for almost eight months now and I've realized...I love you. I want to be with you, the kind side of you and the impulsive side. I want to be with you for as long as I live. I want to see you smile and comfort you and talk to you. I never want you to feel lonely again. I know that the next few years will be difficult and this might be selfish of me, but I don't want to go through the next few years without at least trying. I don't know what I would do without you or if I had never met you. I'm might not be the handsomest or the richest or the funniest… but… but I love you Tomoko and I want to make sure your future is full of smiles."

Tomoko dropped down to her knees and embraced the mangaka. "Of course, I'm going to say yes. I love you too Adam."

"I take it that was better?" He teased.

She tore herself away from him for a moment and nodded. "Much."

Adam took the ring, which was a single diamond on a golden bangle, and placed it on Tomoko's finger.

Adam wrapped his arms around his fiancé and swore to himself he would never let go.

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The rest of the engagement went by much quicker than Tomoko would have expected but was just as thrilling nonetheless. But before she realized it she was in her final year of high school and her fiancé's manga was set to debut today. Before the bell, Tomoko saw several students with Jump magazines, but she was too preoccupied with daydreams and fantasies of her upcoming wedding to pay it any mind. She kept staring at the ring, fascinated that only a few years ago she had been looking for a way to get just one boy to notice her, and now here she was... engaged!

Her daydreams were interrupted when one of the girls... 'Kato... Is that here name?' called out to her. "Y...yes?" She asked shyly. 'Oh great what do they want... probably just want to tease me cause I was daydreaming, well why don't you leave me to my real man while you're stuck with that pig that's still a child maturity-wise.'

"Why are you in Weekly Shonen Jump?" Tomoko jumped out her desk in surprise and ran over to the girl's desk. Sure enough, right before Edward Suoh's; Suicidal Sweethearts there was a brief shoutout to: My Love, the beautiful Tomoko Kuroki.

"You know Edward Suoh?" Kato, if that was her name, asked.

"Who?" One of her friends asked and Tomoko had to resist the urge to yell at her for not knowing about her man and his partner.

"He's a new mangaka... he made Wishmaker and know this new story Suicidal Sweethearts. Even old pros are complimenting his word, saying he might take one of the seats of power and rule part of Japan within a few years." Kato explained and then turned back to Tomoko. "How do you know him?"

Tomoko smirked and held up her hand with the ring. "He's my fiancé." She bragged.

Kato scoffed. "No way."

Tomoko pointed at the shoutout. "Then explain that and the ring on my finger."

Kato looked back to the text and then back to her finger... and eventually decided she was telling the truth. "This is crazy... can we sit with you at lunch?"

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"I can't do this... I'm going to freak out and then die. Then she'll be a widow ever before we're married." Adam complained, pacing, his feet trying to keep up with his heart that was apparently training for a marathon.

Ethan grabbed Adam and forced him to stand still. "Listen... breathe." Adam tried to breathe in and out slowly like Ethan was doing, but even that didn't help. "Listen... you've gotten this far... you can do it You have literally waited a full year since you proposed to her for this day... don't you want to see Tomoko in that wedding dress, the one she's picked out to look beautiful for you?"

"I do... I really do." Adam nodded vigorously, now his head matching the pace his feet had stopped.

"Look, you aren't allowed to see her before the wedding, but I did. And trust me, you want to be alive for this." Ethan reassured him "Listen, if Namika and Mikagi got this, there's no way you can't do it."

Adam swallowed and let out a big breath of air. "Okay... okay..."

The others came in and ushered him to his proper place at the altar where he proceeded to sweat enough bullets to supply a small army for a year. But then, the music played and everyone rose for the bride. And then... and then... Adam caught sight of his bride. She was glorious. Her normally unkempt hair was tidied up and brushed all the way back. Yuu-chan insisted on doing all the beautification on the bride herself, and Adam could see her hand in it. The dress was long and flowing and Adam could honestly say he fell in love with her all over again. A great sense of joy hit him when he remembered she was here... to marry him.

At that point, he managed to calm himself and the ceremony proceeded as planned. After the vows were said and the Priest told him to kiss the bride, Adam leaned forward to kiss the woman he loved, the woman that was his that he would live with forever. And when they kissed it reminded him of their first ever kiss. They had kissed after that, but none of the kisses had matched up to the first one... except for this one. They both smiled.

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True to his word, being the wife of a mangaka was hard, but Tomoko never once complained, and within a year, after several assistants were hired to help out with the art, Adam was able to spend some much needed time with his wife. The two took a little mini-vacation which was the same time she told him she was pregnant. It was a hard nine months, Tomoko's constant mood-swings reminded him of how she used to be, except replace shy and bold with cranky and sobbing. But when Adam held his little girl, who he named Lal... after the event that sparked their meeting, he knew it was all worth it. A few years after that, after Suicidal Sweethearts ended, Edward Suoh rose to a rule of political power with their new Shonen; Altered. The two were given a luxury suite and Ethan took an entirely separate suite that he would bring his different girlfriends to in order to show off, he still hadn't settled down with the one he felt was "the one".

And then almost seven years after their wedding, right as little Lal climbed up on her father's face at 3:30 in the morning, Adam's beloved wife felt it was the appropriate time to tell him; I'm pregnant again.

 **Author's Notes;**

 **In case you missed it, the reference to Jojo's Bizarre Adventures from Magician's Blue; refers to Avdol's Stand, Magician's Red in the third arc of JJBA; Stardust Crusaders. I thought about them being Akako and Kaito, as Akako means Red Child, a direct parallel to Aoko's Blue Child, but I ship Aoko X Kaito really bad and decided against it.**

 **When Tomoko and I were walking home, when I said the DBZ games have terrible hit detection, I was referencing Dragon Ball Xenoverse, which came out in 2015 and had horrendous hit detection.**

 **And for those of you wondering, yes Blue Moon is a real thing I am actually working on... well know you all know about it so it's not a secret anymore... oh well.**

 **Some translation notes in case you missed them;**

 **Bakaito; A combination of Baka meaning Idiot and Kaito (his name)**

 **Ahoko; An insulting way to say Aoko, presumably same as above, but I don't know which word it's combined with.**

 **5000 yen; About 43 dollars.**

 **Shounen: Manga aimed at boys**

 **Shojo: Manga aimed at girls**

 **Urusai; Shut up!**

 **Mangaka: One who makes manga, or a team/duo who makes manga**

 **Chan; Female Suffix**

 **Kun; Male Suffix**

 **Taichou; Captain**

 **Dame; No good.**


End file.
